The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror is not only home to one of the most terrifying experiences in all of Walt Disney World, but an almost unbelievable collection of brilliant musicians. While waiting in the queue, Guests can hear some of the greatest jazz musicians to ever perform.
Here’s a quick tour of a few of the swinging musicians you’ll encounter. Hopefully, learning a bit about them will help take your mind off that 13 story free fall you’re about to experience.
Artist: Johnny Hodges
Song: I’m In Another World
Born in Cambridge, Massachusets, Hodges began his life in music by teaching himself the piano. In his teens he began playing the soprano saxophone.
At the age of 14, he met the great Sydney Bichet, who offered him formal instruction in the saxophone. Seven years later, he joined Duke Ellington’s band in New York City.
He primarily played the alto saxophone in Ellington’s band and influenced many luminaries who followed. Charlie Parker and John Coltrane were both enamored of Hodges’s skill and tone. Benny Goodman was also a fan, saying that Hodges was, “by far the greatest man on alto sax that I ever heard.”
Artist: Turner Layton
Song: Deep Purple
Singer, pianist, and composer Turner Layton was born in Washington D.C. with music in his blood. His father, John Turner Layton, was a singer, writer of hymns, and music educator.
Prior to pursuing music, Layton studied to become a dentist, but the death of his father interrupted his education. Shortly after, he began working with lyricist and producer Henry Creamer, a partnership that would define his career.
Layton also established a successful cabaret act with Clarence “Tandy” Johnston. The duo was said to have sold over 10 million records.
Notables such as Al Jolson and Eddie Cantor have performed his music.
Artist: Fats Waller
Song: Inside (This Heart of Mine)
A member of the Songwriters Hall of Fame, Thomas “Fats” Waller was born in New York City in 1904. The son of a pastor, he learned to play the piano at Abyssinian Baptist Church.
Waller’s professional career began as a pianist in nightclubs, and as the organist at movie theaters. He eventually became the accompanist for legendary blues singer Bessie Smith before leading and recording with his own band.
In 1926, Waller was kidnapped while performing in Chicago and taken to the Hawthorne Inn. While there, he was forced to play the piano as the “surprise guest” at Al Capone’s birthday party.
In 1943, Waller was hired to create the musical Early to Bed, which would became a smash hit on Broadway.
Notable compositions include “Honeysuckle Rose,” “Ain’t Misbehavin’” and “Viper’s Drag.”
Artist: Sidney Bechet with Noble Sissle’s Swingers
Song: When the Sun Sets Down South
Generally considered the first important soloist in the history of jazz, Bechet was both a saxophonist and clarinetist.
Born in 1897 in the City of New Orleans, Bechet was primarily self taught, and was performing with his brother’s band by the age of six.
Along with Louis Armstrong, Bechet helped revolutionize a new sound in jazz, moving it beyond ragtime into the loose, swinging style that became the hallmark of the form. However, unlike Armstrong, he never achieved major success in the United States, instead thriving in Europe.
A show at the Salle Pleyel Jazz Festival in Paris was a sensation, and prompted Bechet to move to France, where he lived out the rest of his life.
Artist: Red Norvo
Song: Remember
Red Norvo, AKA “Mr. Swing,” was a unique figure in the swing era, making his name playing jazz xylophone, and later the vibraphone.
Norvo broke into music as a marimbist, even briefly touring the vaudeville circuit with the instrument. He also performed as a tap dancer in vaudeville before joining Paul Whiteman’s orchestra in the 1930s.
From 1936 to 1944, he led his own band, but they eventually broke up when Norvo decided to join the Benny Goodman Sextet.
Able to continually evolve his style and playing, Norvo performed with artists ranging from Charlie Parker and Dizzy Gillespie to Charles Mingus.
Artist: Bunny Berigan
Song:I Can’t Get Started
Speaking of Berigan, clarinetist Joe Dixon once said, “Bunny hit a note – and it had pulse. It’s hard to describe, but his sound seemed to – well, soar…There was drama in what he did – he had that ability, like Louis, to make any tune his own.”
A child of Wisconsin, Berigan began his musical career at age 12 by playing in his grandfather’s 15-piece juvenile concert band. His talent soon took him to New York and Hal Kemp’s orchestra.
He later became a studio musician of note, and established himself not only as a trumpet player but as a vocalist. Over the years, he worked in radio, and alongside musicians such as the Dorsey Brothers, Gene Krupa, and Benny Goodman.
“I Can’t Get Started,” which was penned by Ira Gershwin and Vernon Duke for the 1936 Zeigfield Follies, became his theme song and the piece for which Berigan is best remembered.
Artist: Henry “Red” Allen
Song: There’s a House in Harlem for Sale
The son of a trumpet player in one of New Orlean’s best brass bands, it seems inevitable that Allen would grow up musical. As a child, he played drums, ukulele, and alto horn before picking up the trumpet.
Alongside clarinetist John Casimir, he led a children’s band and soon began working riverboats. At the age of 19, he traveled north to perform with King Oliver. He later moved to New York City to join Luis Russell’s band (which was eventually fronted by Louis Armstrong).
Among his recording partners were jazz titans such as Jelly Roll Morton, Fats Waller, and Billie Holiday, to name just a few.
Artist: Vera Lynn
Song: We’ll Meet Again
Nicknamed the “Forces’ Sweetheart” Vera Lynn gained massive popularity during World War II. Along with her performances for troops, she immortalized the song “We’ll Meet Again,” which resonated with soldiers and their families at the time.
Born in 1917 in East Ham, Essex, Lynn was the child of a plumber and a dress maker. At the age of seven, she began performing publicly and at age 11 she joined a group known as Madame Harris’s Kracker Kabaret Kids.
Her wartime contributions began with performances in London’s tube stations, her voice bringing comfort to those hiding from air raids. She later had a radio program called Sincerely Yours which included messages to the British troops abroad. The program was described as, “to the men of the forces – a letter in words and Music.”
Make Mine Music 